Bigpoint
was ready to show off their early Alpha client demo for their
upcoming free-to-play browser-based MMOG
style="font-style: italic;">Battlestar Galactica
here at E3 2010 today. We got the chance to take a look at some of the
early space combat for the game as well as and find out what Bigpoint
has planned for the popular
style="font-style: italic;">Battlestar Galactica
IP.

We had the chance to see a Cylon Raider in action taking out several
ships. There will be a number of different ships that players can
choose from, but the exact number of how many different ships the game
will have has yet to be announced. Space wasn’t heavily
populated as the client is very early Alpha, but there were enough
enemies to give us a look at the game’s combat system, which
was a pretty standard target and fire system. Players familiar with
past space shooters like
style="font-style: italic;">Wing Commander
will find it a little familiar.

The game setting takes place around the second season of
style="font-style: italic;">Battlestar Galactica
as this is one of the highest points of conflict in the series. When
players first log in, they will be prompted to choose their faction:
Cylon or Humans. They will then be thrust into the conflict between the
two sides. PvP will be a big part of the game and we were told that
players will be looking over their shoulder throughout the game, which
makes sense as the show operated on the same principle.

Bigpoint has plans to include an avatar system for an outside the ship
experience, but that feature had not been added yet, but we were told
more details will be coming around Comic-Con when the game is a bit
further along in development.

The only thing players will need to play the game is the Unity Plug-in
and it will work with any browser. Microtransactions will be
a part of the game, but we were assured that there will be a happy
balance between the free and paying players. A Bigpoint representative
also told us that items that can be bought can be earned through normal
gameplay, so you won’t be able to buy your way to epicness.

Players will be able to upgrade their ships with harvested resources
that they can obtain by mining asteroids and dropped items from enemy
ships. There will also be group-based mining missions. In this case, a
player will need to call in friends or allies to help protect a larger
ship as it mines the resources. This escort convoy mission will
function as a PvP mechanic as well as one side will try and protect the
ship as it mines and the other will try to destroy it.

While the tech demo was very early in development there are some
interesting features in the works. Large scale battles and the avatar
system will be a nice addition to the game, but as with any development
cycle those plans could be subject to change.
style="font-style: italic;">Battlestar Galactica
Online is aiming for a closed
beta launch around the end of the year. Stay tuned to Ten Ton Hammer
and we’ll update you with additional details as they become
available.

About The Author

Stacy "Martuk" Jones was a long-time news editor and community manager for many of our previous game sites, such as Age of Conan. Stacy has since moved on to become a masked super hero, battling demons in another dimension.